Review: 1st Japanese Album – Girls’ Generation

(Catalogue post, photos, and album jacket scans of both Limited and Deluxe Editions can be found here)

The 1st Japanese Album has reached me for about a week and I shall review it to you guys.

Do take note that the version that I am reviewing is the Limited Edition.Packaging before removing the plastic:

From the image above, it seems that they have given a group photo-card and some paper.

Unwrapping the album (ripping off the plastic):

The group photocard that is included.

The two images are the front and back of the slip of paper, also included in the album.

The front and back of the album. Plastic “case” is still not removed.

The plastic case is being removed here. You can clearly see that it has “GIRLS’ GENERATION” on it.

After unwrapping the plastic and “plastic case”:

Front, without plastic ‘case’.

The discs. You can see that there are two discs, one over another.

The cover of the mini photo-booklet that faces the discs. Looks good!

Photo-booklet contents:

The first page of the photo-booklet: Song List.

Several solo images in the photo-booklet.

(In order, left to right) Tiffany, Seohyun, Yoona.

(In order, left to right) Sunny, Yuri, Jessica.

(In order, left to right) Hyoyeon, Taeyeon, Sooyoung.

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In overall, the packaging is great. With no random photo-cards, you will not need to splurge in order to collect all photo-cards. The plastic case with “GIRLS’ GENERATION” is important to keep the album in tiptop condition. The photos in the photo-booklet are also rather high in quality.

From here, I will go through the song list and review each one of the songs.

Track 1 – MR. TAXI: everyone has heard this song. catchy, with a rather electronic music. you can play it all day long and not get bored of it. with english phrases and words sprinkled all over the song, it’s hard not to get it into your brain. Love it.

Track 2 – GENIE: you can call this a classic, since it’s been around 2 years since this was released, except in a different language. You should totally catch the PV if you haven’t. With taeyeon’s strong vocals near the end of the song, it makes the song much more complete.

Track 3 – you-aholic: “psycho sexy super magic, psycho sexy super magic!” this song is clearly a Japanese song (yes, I am aware that all the tracks are Japanese), as the style of this song is just… really J-pop-ish. Rather catchy, however not one of my favourites.

Track 4 – Run Devil Run: not much to say about RDR as it’s a Japanese remake of the Korean version. I personally prefer the Korean version, I feel the lyrics are delivered with more emotions/force.

Track 5 – BAD GIRL: this song starts with a really playful beat along with a harmony of “ohs”. Although nothing new to an average kpop/jpop listener (the “ohs” reminded me of BoA’s Hurricane Venus), the girls do manage to give the song it’s own identity. SM Entertainment surprised everyone with a BAD GIRL MV mid August of 2011, months after the release of the album. “Badass” concept? I love it!

Track 6 – Beautiful Stranger: this song a little more electro-pop than I would of preferred. However, the lyrics are quite interesting.

Track 7 – I’m In Love With The HERO: one of my favorites from the album. Although not as “soft” as ‘BORN TO BE A LADY’, it’s still quite an enjoyable song.

Track 8 – Let It Rain: this is my absolute favorite song on the album and may be one of my all time favorites from the girls. I must say, the girls voices blended exceptionally well as always. ^^

Track 9 – Gee: I’m sure all S♥NES have heard of Gee before. Despite the age, this is a song you just can’t get tired of regardless the language it is sung in.

Track 10 – THE GREAT ESCAPE: one of the few songs the girls have been performing on stage in Japan. It’s can be a bit repetitive but nothing out of the ordinary.

Track 11 – HOOT: another Japanese remake, that sounds… I have no idea how it sounds to me, you should listen to it yourself!

Track 12 – BORN TO BE A LADY: this is the closest thing the album has to a ballad. The tone is very soft and smoothing. The harmony between the girls is also amazing as always. My second favorite from the album.
Overall: 8.9/10

Conclusion: In all honesty, this album surpassed my expectations by far. I was quite disappointed when the girls only released Japanese remakes of their Korean hit tracks in Japan. When MR.TAXI was announced I was overjoyed thinking, “Ah. So we finally get something fresh and exciting to look forward to.” This was also my response when this album was announced. I’ve always loved the way the girls’ sang their ballads or just slower/softer songs in general. “BORN TO BE A LADY”, “Let It Rain”, and “I’m In Love With The HERO” just completely answered my prayers.

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